President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has denied recent reports that the implementation of 25% tariffs on Canadian imports would be delayed until March 1., 2025.
Reuters reported that unnamed sources told them Trump was going to delay the implementation of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada by a month. But Leavitt confirmed in a press conference Friday they will be implemented Saturday.
Repeating past comments from Trump, she said the tariffs are being implemented to pressure Mexico and Canada into halting both illegal immigration and drug smuggling, namely Fentanyl, into the U.S.
“I was just with the President in the Oval Office, and I can confirm … the President will be implementing tomorrow 25% tariffs on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” Leavitt said. “These are promises made and promises kept by the President.”
The now-dismissed Reuter’s article suggested a 28-day window would be offered before the implementation, which would allow time for a “process for exemptions” on specific products, but the source said they would be “few and far between.”
However, Leavitt said there was no update on the possibility of exemptions but that if there are any, they would be included in the official announcement of the tariffs on Saturday.
When asked if the tariffs were meant to be permanent, she said she would leave it to Trump to announce if he intends to “roll back those tariffs.”
In response to Justin Trudeau’s comments that Canada will respond in kind to Trump’s tariffs and “will not relent” until they are removed, Leavitt said that she doesn’t expect a trade war with Canada.
“I think the President is going to implement those tariffs tomorrow, and he will respond to Mr. Trudeau’s comments in due time,” she said. “The President is intent on doing this, and I think Justin Trudeau would be wise to talk to President Trump directly before pushing outlandish comments like that to the media.”
The White House’s comments align now with Trump’s comments when he initially proposed a 25% tariff on Canada to pressure it to secure its border after winning the U.S. election.
Since then, however, and before his inauguration, Trump’s rhetoric escalated to include threats of using “economic force” in a bid to merge the two countries.
